The invention relates to a hinge for mounting a door on a cabinet having a box-like carcass open on one side, in which the size of the opening is reduced by a frame formed of stick-like frame members in which the door lies against the frame when in the closed position, and the hinge has a door-related part which can be fastened in a rebate in the back of the door, and a frame-related part coupled to the door-related part by a link mechanism and disposed in a rebate cut in the face of the frame member.
A hinge of this kind is described in the inventors' earlier U.S. patent application Ser. No. 230,268 filed Jan. 30, 1981, in which, in addition to the possibility of the adjustment of the door leaf for height, i.e., adjustment parallel to the pivot axis of the hinge, the possibility is created for an adjustment also permitting the amount of overlap of the door when closed against the frame to be varied by making the door-related part to consist of a plurality of parts, the part holding the link mechanism being adjustable in the desired direction relative to the part affixed to the door.
The hinge of the invention likewise has to do with the problem of the adjustment of the amount of overlap of the door, but, in a departure from the above-mentioned earlier proposal of the inventors, this possibility of adjustment is to be accomplished in the frame-related part, that is to say, a positive, continuous adjustability of the amount of overlap of the door is to be achieved without creating the danger that, during the adjustment, the parts to be moved with respect to one another might shift accidentally, making a readjustment necessary. Furthermore, it is also to be possible to remove the door from the carcass and reinstall it thereon in a quick and simple manner, without the need to remove the frame-related part entirely from the cabinet carcass or the door-related part entirely from the door.
Setting out from a hinge of the kind specified above, this object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the fact that the frame-related part of the hinge has a mounting piece fitted into the rebate in the frame member and fastened therein, and provided with a recess and a block which is joined by the link mechanism to the door-related part of the hinge and is disposed in this recess so as to be displaceable parallel to the face side of the frame and at right angles to the edge of the corresponding frame member, and by the fact that the block is adjustable in the mounting piece by a screw-threaded element whose threaded shank is in engagement with a corresponding thread in the block and is held in the mounting piece so as to be able to rotate but not to be displaced longitudinally. Therefore, by turning the screw-threaded element which is engaged with the block, the amount of the door overlap can be positively adjusted. Since the thread engagement is self-locking, any adjustment that is made will also be held, so that no additional fixing of the block in the mounting piece is necessary.
The block is best guided positively in its displacement by slot-and-key joints provided between the confronting lateral surfaces of the block on the one hand and of the recess on the other, a key preferably extending from each lateral surface of the block into the slot in the confronting surface of the mounting piece. Alternatively, the reverse arrangement can also be used, i.e., one in which the keys are provided on the mounting piece and the slots in the lateral surfaces of the block.
In an advantageous further development of the invention, the screw-threaded element is a threaded spindle disposed in a bore formed partially in the block and partially in the mounting piece in the plane of separation between one lateral surface of the block and the associated lateral surface of the mounting piece, and having its thread interrupted by a circumferential groove which is engaged by a projection of the otherwise smooth bore portion formed in the mounting piece, while the bore portion in the block is provided with a thread complementary to the thread of the spindle.
To assure that the spindle will be held securely in the mounting piece even if the block is completely removed therefrom, it is desirable to offset the longitudinal central axis of the bore accommodating the spindle slightly into the mounting piece, away from the plane of separation between the confronting surfaces of the block and mounting piece, so that the plain wall of the bore portion formed in the mounting piece will extend more than 180.degree. around the circumference of the spindle, while the threaded bore portion provided in the block will engage the thread of the spindle over less than 180.degree. of the latter's circumference.
When the spindle is installed, the projection that is to hold it in the bore portion in the mounting piece must not be present, since otherwise the spindle could be inserted only to the depth at which its end engages this projection. The installation of the spindle, however, is made possible in accordance with the invention by the fact that the projection is formed by tip of a pin inserted or pressed into the bore portion through a bore in the wall of the mounting piece, this pin being installed after the spindle is installed in the bore portion.
If the spindle is rotated sufficiently, it can lift the block all the way out of the mounting piece, i.e., a door mounted with the hinge of the invention can be removed from the cabinet carcass in this manner. This method of removal is impractical, however, because the turning of the spindle, which would have to be performed separately on at least two hinges, would be relatively time-consuming, and it would have to be done more or less evenly to prevent the blocks from cocking and jamming in the mounting pieces. The removal of the block is accomplished more simply and quickly in a further development of the hinge of the invention, in which the width of the block, as measured transversely of its adjusting travel and longitudinally of the door frame member is less than the width, measured in the same manner, of the recess in the mounting piece, so that the block is held in the mounting piece with sufficient clearance so that, by moving it from side to side, it can be engaged or disengaged from the threaded spindle, means being provided which can serve to engage and disengage the block from the spindle. As soon as the block is out of engagement with the threads of the spindle, it can simply be removed from the mounting piece.
In a preferred further development of the invention, the means holding the block in engagement with the threaded spindle comprise a cylinder-head screw which can be threaded into the face of the block on the side opposite the threaded bore portion, and a planar guiding surface is provided on the mounting piece and extends in the direction of adjustment; the cylindrical surface of the screw head engages this guiding surface when the screw is driven all the way in, and secures the block against lateral displacement out of engagement with the threaded spindle. The cylindrical surface of the screw head therefore takes up the clearance between the block and the mounting piece when it is engaged with the guiding surface. When the screw is withdrawn until the screw head is backed away from the guiding surface, the screw will no longer take up this clearance.
Between the cylindrical screw head and the threaded shank of the screw, a truncoconical transition can be provided, which will wedge the block into threaded engagement with the spindle as the screw is driven in.
In addition, the guiding surface associated with the cylindrical head of the screw can merge with a ramp surface disposed at an angle to the guiding surface which corresponds to the cone angle of the truncoconical transition on the screw. By tightening the transitional section of the screw against this ramp surface, a wedge action is produced which will grip the block tightly in the mounting piece.
In further development of the invention, an elongated hole extending in the direction of displacement of the block can be provided in the wall defining the bottom of the recess in the mounting piece, and the free end of the threaded shank of the screw can be engaged in it, the threaded shank of the screw being at least long enough to enter the elongated hole before the screw is driven all the way in. The free end of the threaded shank of the screw thus forms a stop--as long as it projects from the block into the elongated hole--which prevents any unintentional separation of the block from the mounting piece.